Why I Believe In God

Transcription

1 1 Beaverton Foursquare Sunday A.M Faith (Part 2) Pastor Randy Remington Why I Believe In God Anyone who comes to Him must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6b) From last week we saw that it s not only that we believe these things but also that we trust Him. Although our world is full of cynics, there truly are earnest people who are asking if there is a God, does He truly exist? Portland, (per-capita) has the most atheists than any other city in our country. But in reality we all believe in something, we either believe in God or something else. Randy shared what he believes, based of five things. Let s take a look at each: 1. Creation: When I consider the universe, our world and all its forms of life, especially human life, I m inclined to believe in a Divine Creator. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained. (Psalm 8:1, 3) The following are places that Randy has lived where one can take in the beauty of God s creation. (Upper Peninsula, Michigan)

2 (Grand Teton s, Jackson Hole, Wyoming) (Oregon Coast, Cannon Beach, OR) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) This is the most controversial and most important scripture in the Bible. It states that in the beginning God But it also presents Him as the creator; this sets the foundation for our entire belief system. Someone once said, If you get theses first words right the rest of the Bible is easy. The late Leslie D. Weatherhead wrote the book The Christian Agnostic. He told a story of mice who lived in a grand piano that was located in a cathedral in England. The mice believed in an unseen player who played the beautiful sounds. One mouse went where no mouse had gone before and saw the wires that were making sound. Many stopped believing in the unseen player. Later another mouse went further and saw the hammers striking the wires, again reinforcing to the mice that they didn t have to believe in the unseen player.

3 player. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw For some scientist and others in our culture, the perfect handiwork of what we see in so many things around us, is just a fluke. Whereas they may be able to explain the wires and hammers, but they can t explain the music and the creator of the music. We all have a choice to make. Did this all come out of chance, just a fluke? Or do we believe in a God who created all there is including mankind and breathed the breath of life in us? Do we believe in the maker of the music? By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:3) 2. Death: The compelling basis for overcoming despair is our hope in an everlasting life that transcends death and becomes the basis for all future reunion, reward, rest and responsibility. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:4a, 6b) Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26) We are called to believe in Jesus and his resurrection and the witnesses of those who are around us and have gone before us. In My Father s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2) There are many witnesses that are experiencing this right now. Every once in awhile we get a peek into the promises of God as someone passes into his presence. 3. Meaning: The overwhelming need for significance. Does my life matter? Was I made for something more than mere existence? For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

4 frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. (Psalm 139:13-16) We must ask ourselves is my life more than the possessions we have or the pleasures in this life? We will lose wealth, possessions, careers and it leaves us wondering do I really have a purpose in this life? 4. Scriptures: The Bible records the testimony of men and women who encountered the miraculous and endured great trials and suffering with joy because of their faith in the living God. The Bible also gives record of those who were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus, bearing witness to that testimony even in the face of death. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1) The scriptures record the testimonies of those who have gone before us. But the scriptures also reveal to us about the living nature of this book. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:3-6) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) 5. Experience: My own personal encounters with the Living God, which have become an irrefutable part of my testimony of His existence and trustworthiness. There is no one in the world that can refute your experience with God. We walk with him and talk with him and enjoy an ongoing relationship with him. This reality of him invades our lives at key times and leaves us with marked times of His presence and intervention. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11)

5 their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11) Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad! But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe. Then Agrippa said to Paul, You almost persuade me to become a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains. (Acts 26:24-29) In the end, it leaves all of us with two choices: To believe in a theory that has no meaning or purpose Or to believe in a God who created the universe, which has a purpose and a plan for you and me. Discussion Questions 1) Let s discuss the five points that Randy gave us, why I believe in God. The first is Creation, looking back at pages 1, 2 and 3 how does creation itself help us believe in a Divine Creator? (Or as the story of the mice on page 3, the Unseen Player ) 2) The second point of belief is Death, looking back at pages 3 and 4 of your notes, discuss how does hope in an everlasting life that transcends death work in our lives? 3) Next please discuss how Meaning is important in our lives. What about our need for significance and that our life really matters. Have you wrestled with the question if your life was made for something more than possessions, pleasure or just mere existence? 4) How have the Scriptures played a part in your walk in relation to faith and believing? Have you given thought to the many witnesses that gone before you? Please share a time, a victory or trial where the scriptures reveled to you the living

6 witnesses that gone before you? Please share a time, a victory or trial where the scriptures reveled to you the living nature of this book. 5) The last area is your own personal Experience. Feel free to share about your own personal encounters with the Living God. Have these experiences become an irrefutable part of my testimony of His existence and trustworthiness for you?